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THE LONE ISLANDS fade into the horizon behind us as the Dawn Treader surges into uncharted waters. Excitement and apprehension swim amongst the crew the further we get — Drinian's tales of serpents, krakens, and giant squids have left more than a few men nervous. A few times, I catch Mesithis peering over the bulwark into the frothing sea, as if expecting one of the beasts to be lurking in the Treader's shadow. Rithar teases him relentlessly for it.
"I saw your beastie off the bow this morning!" He calls to the young deckhand as he emerges from belowdecks. "Threw the lad a chicken to keep him at bay!"
A few men laugh as Mesithis responds with a vulgar gesture.
"He's quite young to be gone sailing so long," Lucy notes, working her needle through the red waistcoat in her lap.
"Sixteen," I confirm. We'd celebrated the kid's birthday between Terebinthia and the Seven Isles over four months ago, pulling a few precious bottles of wine from the stores. "I don't know how he convinced his mom to let him come."
My stitch looks skewed so I pull the needle back out and try again, taking care to keep it straight (I'd torn a hole in the knee of my trousers while climbing a tree on Felimath). But Lucy's silence prompts me to look up from my work and I catch her staring intently at Mesithis, receiving his chores from Tavros on the forecastle. Though she quickly returns to her stitching when the boy turns toward us to descend the stairs. I can't mistake what I just saw.
"Lucy," I hiss in disbelief.
Her head shoots up with wide, innocent blue eyes. "What?" She reads my gaze, cheeks turning rosy with embarrassment. A sigh falls from her mouth. "Alright." She relents with a shy, helpless laugh. "I just think he's quite handsome."
I'm expecting her to say it but hearing the words come from Lucy Pevensie's mouth seems impossible. I have to snort back my laugh.
Her face flushes a deeper red and she pushes my shoulder, giggling. "But you have to be quiet about it!" She whispers. "If Ed hears about it he'll be intolerable."
"I won't say anything."
"Good."
A moment passes before the two of us collapse into a fit of laughter. Rhince, a man from Narrowhaven, looks over at us and smiles. He'd joined the crew to help us find the people taken by the mist. His wife, Helaine, being one of them.
Edmund emerges from the stateroom with his new sword and pauses when he hears our laughing. He spots us beneath the stairs, grins, and saunters over with a teasing glint in his eyes. "Working hard, I see– Hey!"
Lucy has her needle raised like a miniature sword and jabs it at him so Edmund has to dance around her. " What's the fuss about?" He asks, settling down beside me.
